1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention lies within the diving suit art. More particularly, it lies in the diving suit art related to wet suits adapted for delivering heated water to the interfacing areas of a diver's body and the interior of the wet suit.
2. The Prior Art
The prior art related to heating wet suits with warm water comprises various means of delivering water into the wet suits. The patent art shows delivering hot water to wet suits with different valving, mixing, and delivery means. Some of the prior art shows the utilization of hot water conduits which run external to the suit, and deliver hot water to the extremeties of the limbs of a diver.
In addition thereto, the prior art shows water delivered to the diver by utilizing a conduit placed on the outside of the wet suit. Such conduits are provided with openings therein which mate with openings that are punched in the wet suit material. The openings of the conduit overly the outside of the wet suit and pass into the interior of the wet suit through the mated openings therein. Such configurations of outside conduits are cut in their cross section on a flat in order to allow a point of tangency between the outside of the wet suit and the conduit. This approach also incorporates increasingly sized holes along the conduit from one end to the other to allow for pressure drops as the fluid passes toward the extremeties of the user's limbs. In other words, the holes have been sized so that as they approach the extremeties of one's limbs, they increase in size. In this manner, the pressure drop from one end of the conduit to the other can be compensated for with regard to volumetric flow.
The drawback of all the prior art resides within the fact that the conduits are attached wholely within or without the wet suits. They are cumbersome and have not been flexibly mounted. Generally stated, the conduits are an afterthought in the manufacture of the wet suit and are merely an add-on feature. Such conduits have to be provided with openings and indexed to other spaced openings within the wet suit material, so as to provide for flow therethrough into the space between the user's body and the interior of the wet suit.
The foregoing prior art configurations create substantial drawbacks to the manufacture, use and function of heated water wet suits. To the contrary, this invention provides an integral conduit system for delivering heated water to a diver in a wet suit. The heated water principle hereof provides a continuous flow pattern of water to the diver, such that it allows for complete interfacial flow, eliminating cumbersome lines and conduits on the outside or inside of the suit.
In addition to the foregoing drawbacks of the prior art that are solved by this invention, the prior art problem related to hot spots has been solved. The invention avoids hot fluid flow being implaced directly against a diver's skin. It serves to provide greater uniformity of flow throughout the general interfacial area between the diver's skin and the wet suit.
In addition thereto, the prior art has a problem wherein the interfacing skin oftentimes covers the fluid openings. This retards flow between the skin of a diver and the inner surface of the wet suit. In other words, the plugging effect of the skin protruding or being layered against the openings prevents flow, creating incomplete warming.
This invention incorporates the concept of providing spaced delivery of fluid between the diver's skin and the wet suit material. This allows a warm surface layer of water to be delivered through the conduit to the area adjacent a diver's skin on a broader and larger surface area.
The foregoing features and advantages will be more apparent from the following specification as summarized in the summary of the invention hereinafter.